Help with first setup - batch pumping and self pressure.

[Dagger]

I have made an initial design (See the picture) but I have not found this exact setup anywhere else so now I need your advice: (sorry for poor picture quality!! See picture in this link:


Main questions:

1. First, is the general idea right or are there any major faults in my design?

2. The reason for using two separate water tanks is to not have the pump running all the time. This way I can have a quick pump with a float-valve that pumps all the water to the self-draining tank. Is this a good idea?

Other questions:

3. Will it be to dry and warm? The setup will be pretty close to a wood fired stove going almost constant in daytime.

4. Will temperature fluxes be a problem? Since we have little or no extra heating it gets pretty cold over night. Haven’t yet measured the MAX/MIN temp but guess is MAX 25 and MIN 15.

5. I want to use organic nutrition if possible, that's why I have clay pebbles in the pipes to act as a bio-filter. Will this work and what nutrition is preferred? Do I have to buy it or could I make my own? I can also imagine to use non-organic for the time being.

Let´s start with theese questions

Cheers!

[imafan26]

How is the system supported. Is it level? It should actually slope so water flows from high to low. It should not be level or gravity won't work as well for you. Do you have shut of valves anywhere? I don't see it in the design. If you plant that high, how are you going to provide light and harvest?
Your return line should go through a filter just incase contaminants come back with the water.

There are organic hydroponic solutions available, they just aren't very good.

[JoysHydroponics]

I have a somewhat similar approach to my system, although I'm only 2 months in but plants are flourishing. Under the Hydroponics set up tab is a detailed description of what I have done.

I get what you are doing with the water tank, but if you get a cheepie timer from amazon or anywhere really, that will maintain a good schedule for feeding. Unless you are planning on having the water run constantly. Depending on what you're growing it isn't always necessary. I have a 4x 30min/day schedule that seems to be working great.

My set up is in my basement, the temp goes down to probably around 16 degrees C, and unless your up over 30 degrees C it would be fine.

I'm not sure what the clay pebbles would be used for, I haven't been doing this long, but only use a type of clay pebble to sit in my cups to help maintain some moisture as well as support for the plants. I change out my reservoir every two weeks, and I add in grow 2-part & bloom 2-part liquid nutrients from a local hydroponics store. I know you would definitely be able to make your own, just depends on what you're growing and a bit of research.

Hope that helps! I have a lot of time spent with researching how to do this, and so far so good!